Flying

Qatar Executive, the private jet charter division of Qatar Airways, is stepping up the expansion of its fleet with the recent arrival of a second Gulfstream G650ER aircraft. The long-range jet, which can fly non-stop from the Middle East to North America, is part of an order for thirty Gulfstream aircraft that will eventually include the new G500 and G600 models.

The Dassault Falcon 8X business jet is due to enter service in the second half of 2016. The French manufacturer is conducting a series of demonstration flights to prove that all aspects of its performance are as they should be. One of the first flights brought CEO Eric Trappier to New York to visit Dassault’s U.S. headquarters, where he spoke to Business Jet Traveler.

Our airliner was on final approach to New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport when a flight attendant decided to grab a mic and start warbling Willie Nelson’s country-western ballad “Crazy.” Not Nelson’s own smooth-as-pudding rendition of the song or the plaintive Patsy Cline version, but rather a caterwauling, off-pitch, screeching interpretation that, as the airplane descended, probably had most of the cats in North Jersey looking to the night sky with alarm.

As Gulfstream develops the G600 business jet, the company’s designers have been working to refine the cabin. The designers depend on feedback from customers and crew, and with the G600 they have used that feedback to help them develop a comfortable, ergonomically optimized space. The company provides

Manufacturers and writers often attach the word “revolutionary” to new aircraft, but the forthcoming AW609 tiltrotor from Finmeccanica’s AgustaWestland really deserves the label. The aircraft takes off and lands like a helicopter yet can achieve forward speeds of around 275 knots, on par with a fast turboprop airplane.

On May 31, 2014, a Gulfstream IV crashed after an aborted takeoff at Hanscom Field in Bedford, Massachusetts. It overran the runway, hitting approach lights and an antenna before stopping in a ravine outside the airport’s perimeter. A post-impact fire killed all seven people on board: the two pilots, a flight attendant, and four passengers.

When I was 10 my dad bought a Cessna 182. When you’re that age, any airplane is cool, but the Cessna was pretty much a Buick with wings. While I enjoyed the flights we took in it and hanging out at the airport, the aircraft picture that ended up on my bedroom wall was of an Aerostar. This futuristic-looking mid-wing piston twin oozed cool factor.